Falling for Her Billionaire Boss

“You really mean that. That’s not a line, is it.”

He shook his head. ““My Nonna was very special to me. And she would have liked you, Mariella. She’d have liked you very much.”

Mari would have answered, but Luca bent his head and kissed her again, sending all her words scattering into the starlight.

Chapter 7

“You wanted to see me, Mari?”

Mari looked up as Luca stopped at the door to her office. The smooth sound of his voice sent flutters over her skin and she shook them away. The intimate whispers of last night weren’t real. Today was what was real. She had to set the tone.

Last night had been a fantasy, dressed up in finery, gazing at stars from balconies. But today they had to get back to business. Gone was the dashing movie-star hero, and in his place was the real Luca. The one in regular trousers and trendy shirts that showed off the lean physique of his upper body. She couldn’t stop the visceral reaction to his appearance any more than she could stop the instant knowledge that kissing him had been a terrible mistake.

No matter how wonderful.

“Luca, come in.”

He ambled into the office. She’d been here early, had made sure of it. Yesterday had been an aberration. Gallivanting off to picnics and romantic dinners. Being held in his arms and kissing beneath the stars. That wasn’t reality. Reality was The Cascade and the job at hand. How easily she’d forgotten. How completely he’d managed to distract her.

He took a seat across from her desk, crossing an ankle over his kne

e. “I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier. I had breakfast with Gina. And she doesn’t rise early. If I had known you wanted to see me…”

“You’d have what?” She folded her hands on top of the papers neatly arranged in front of her.

“I’d have made myself available.”

The dizzying thought of Luca making himself available to her spun through her veins, the anticipation of possibility seducing her away from her goal. No one had ever made her a priority. No one had put something off for her before. But for all she knew that could just be pretty words.

“You’re here now. And since we were out yesterday afternoon, there’s a lot to catch up on.”

She began explaining about contractors and unions while he was looking at her. She stuttered over a word, realizing he was gazing at her face, her neck, the buttons on her jacket. He wasn’t paying attention. Scratch that. He was paying too much attention!

“Luca, are you listening?”

He straightened his shoulders and leaned forward a little. “Intently.”

Oh, indeed he was. She blinked, forced herself to keep to the topic at hand. “I needed to see you about these invoices.” She held out a sheaf of papers. “Luca, those numbers can’t possibly be correct.” He’d mentioned upgrading the spa facilities, but the numbers coming in didn’t make any sense to her.

He glanced down at the sheets. “Yes, that’s right.” He tossed off the matter. “What’s on your schedule for this afternoon?”

Her face blanched as she ignored his last and focused on the fact that he’d said the invoices were accurate. “Look again. That decimal point can’t be correct.”

He handed them back to her. “It’s all in order, Mari.”

She tapped her pen against the blotter, unsure of how to proceed. Surely he could see the folly in laying out so much money in addition to all the other things he was adding. She had seen the bill for the new draperies for the Athabasca Room and had nearly fainted. It had gone way beyond what they’d agreed when they’d laid out the budget. Now this…

“This is not what we budgeted. And you went over our budget for the drapes by nearly thirty percent!”

“It was a great price for a much higher quality fabric. Gina found it and…”

“Gina?” Mari stopped fidgeting and put down her pen. Fighting Luca was difficult enough. But now she had two Fioris to keep up with. Gina had delivered a sculpture, but she also did much of the interior design detail for Fiori Resorts. Trying to keep Gina from spending them into the ground was yet another tick on her to do list. She couldn’t take them both on. She took a deep breath.

“I told you she was persistent.”

Then she caught a hint of a smile at the corners of his mouth.

And she remembered that mouth on hers.